Fibrotic Cytokine Interplay in Evaluation of Disease Activity in Treatment Naïve Systemic Sclerosis Patients from Western India.

Background: : Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a demyelinating disease of skin, subcutaneous tissue, muscles and internal organs, with fibrosis as an important pathological event.

Aim: : To understand cytokine interplay of IL-1β, IL-4 and IL-6 and their association with disease activity in treatment naïve active cases of systemic sclerosis from Western India.

Methods: Twenty-five SSc patients as per ACR-EULAR 2013 criteria (classified based on pulmonary fibrosis and generalized fibrosis) and 25 age-sex matched controls were enrolled.

Catalytic antibodies in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: Antibodies with catalytic (hydrolytic) properties to DNA or RNA have been reported in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, it is well known that ethnicity plays an important role in the presentation of SLE and severity of the disease; hence, these data may not truly represent a general feature of all SLE patients. Therefore, we have analyzed the hydrolyzing activity of immunoglobulin G (IgG) of SLE patients from the Indian population with an aim to decode whether the catalytic antibody response represents part of an active disease process.